Home > Published Issues > 2023 > Volume 18, No. 8, August 2023 >
JCM 2023 Vol.18(8): 522-536
Doi: 10.12720/jcm.18.8.522-536

Performance Evaluation of Optical Amplifiers in a Hybrid RoF-WDM Communication System

Tagnon P. Okoumassoun1, Anita Antwiwaa2, and Nana K. Gerrar2, *
1.Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Email: tokou034@uottawa.ca (T.P.O.)
2.Department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Cape Coast Technical University, Cape Coast, Ghana; Email: draantwiwaa@anu.edu.gh (A.A)
*Correspondance: nanagerrar@yahoo.com (N.K.G.)

Manuscript received March 28, 2023; revised May 19, 2023; accepted June 6, 2023.

Abstract—Recent developments in various applications have led to the rapid growth in demand for bandwidth by users. It has enhanced the need for solutions that provide abundant bandwidth at a reduced cost. Radio-over-fibre (RoF) enables simpler and more efficient transmission of communication signals compared to traditional radio frequency (RF) methods. Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) enhances optical communication by enabling the transmission of optical signals at multiple wavelengths thereby increasing the bandwidth capacity of the transmission process. Hybrid RoF/WDM systems have also found applications in recent communication methods. Despite their advantages, RoF-WDM systems suffer from significant power loss and dispersion over long distances, optical amplifiers are therefore usually used to improve signal reception. In this paper, the performance of an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), and a Raman amplifier is investigated over a long-distance RoF-WDM communication system. The EDFA exhibited improved received power at all destination lengths, with the best being 19.2128 dB at the 10 km destination length. The SOA had the best Q-factor and BER performance at the 10 km and 25 km destination lengths. Specifically, SOA produced BER of 1.2166610-7 and 5.6260310-8 and a Q-factor of 5.15645 and 5.2966 at 10 km and 25 km respectively. At the 60 km destination length, the Raman amplifier exhibited the best Q-factor (4.6517) and BER (1.2779710-6). In conclusion, for transmission using RoF-WDM systems over long distances, EDFA and Raman amplifiers are most suitable.

Keywords—radio-over-fibre, wavelength-division multiplexing, Erbium-doped fibre amplifier, semiconductor amplifier, raman amplifier

Cite: Tagnon P. Okoumassoun, Anita Antwiwaa, and Nana K. Gerrar, “Performance Evaluation of Optical Amplifiers in a Hybrid RoF-WDM Communication System," Journal of Communications vol. 18, no. 8, pp. 522-536, August 2023.
 


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